Analyst: NVIDIA prepping to enter x86 processor market

Rumors that NVIDIA may be working on a x86 processor surfaced again. This time AmTech analyst Doug Freedman claims the GPU maker may be internally developing x86 solutions, as the company has been quietly hiring former employees of Transmeta:

'We believe Nvidia could enter the x86 CPU business,'' said analyst Doug Freedman of Broadpoint AmTech. ''Nvidia could become a supplier of x86 CPUs by necessity to preserve both GPU and chipset revenue.''

''We believe internally developed x86 solutions are more likely than external acquisitions (i.e. Via Technologies),'' he said in a new report, referring to rumors that Nvidia would acquire Taiwan's Via.

''We believe that Nvidia has hired former Transmeta staff extensively, and that instruction code "morphing" requirements have declined as more x86 instructions have come off of patent coverage,'' he said.